Land sold for downtown hotel construction

Friday

May 3, 2013 at 12:54 PM

Wilmington Hotel Group purchased the property where a 96-room Holiday Inn will rise.

By Wayne FaulknerWayne.Faulkner@StarNewsOnline.com

Land has been sold for construction of another hotel downtown.Wilmington Hotel Group purchased the property where a 96-room Holiday Inn will rise, with work beginning possibly this year, said Todd Toconis, owner of Town and Country Real Estate. Toconis represented seller Azalea Holdings LLC in the transaction.The price was $700,000, he said.Jeff Hovis of Intracoastal Realty, who represented the buyer, was less specific, saying the nationally known hotel would be 80 to 90 rooms. The developer hopes to get the plans through city review in time to start in September, he said Friday.“They are actually going to come out with renderings” in the next 30 days, Hovis said. “They're just finalizing the survey and easements.”The half-acre site is at 225 Grace St., behind the Bank of America building. Azalea Holdings tore down the Azalea Inn and redeveloped the property, selling land to the bank and now to Wilmington Hotel Group, Toconis said. He is a partner in Azalea Holdings.The hotel, which is likely to be five to seven stories, is going on land once occupied by the room wing of the Azalea Inn, Toconis said.Toconis said he and his partners recombined and reconfigured other lots downtown for hotel development, including the site of the 124-room Courtyard by Marriott under construction at Second and Grace streets.Two other hotels are planned for downtown, including a $33.6 million, 186-room Embassy Suites near the Wilmington Convention Center.Some doubt was cast on that plan this week, however. Harmony Hospitality is asking city officials for a third extension since February 2012 to its development agreement. Company officials this week said the additional time was needed to iron out details involving the project's financing.USA InvestCo, controlled by developer Charles Schoninger, also plans to build Hotel Indigo, a 125-room structure just up the Cape Fear River from the Embassy Suites.